By: Staff Writer
January 7, 2022
The President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), called the snap election in Barbados “thoughtless” as it may disenfranchise hundreds of voters under COVID-19 protocols as she discusses the dissatisfaction with the sitting Mottley government.
Verla DePeiza, speaking to Caribbean Magazine Plus, said that she is “quite confident” in the DLP’s chances at the polls despite a snap being called by Prime Minister Mia Mottley for January 19, 2022, more than a full year before elections were constitutionally scheduled to be held in 2023.
Ms DePeiza also said: “The mood on the street is one of dissatisfaction with the outgoing government. The steps they have taken in relation to this election suggests that it was a thoughtless move and I’m not speaking of calling an unnecessary election in a pandemic, but I’m speaking of the lack of will in having done that and not making sure your citizens can participate in the democratic process.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the election process a challenging one for the Caribbean, but not insurmountable. However, there has to be concessions made for voters that are in isolation or quarantined and potentially carrying the virus, something Ms DePeiza is concerned about as these voters are at risk of being disenfranchised this upcoming general election come January 19.
Ms DePeiza also said: “I know a lot has been said about the fact that there are 1,500 people right now in isolation who will be disenfranchised, but we’ve never been told the number more in quarantine. Those who have been contact traced and have to sit it out, we’ve never been told that number. So it’s actually more than 1,500 people who would be adversely affected by the decision to not put any provisions in place for them to vote.”
Citing that every other country that she is aware of that had elections during the pandemic had a system in place where people under quarantine were allowed to exercise their right to vote, she added: “Parliament has been dissolved in a knee-jerk reaction for what we have not been told yet, so we don’t even have legislative capacity to put systems in place.”
Several Caribbean leaders have called elections during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, notably The Bahamas, Turks and Caiccos, St Lucia and Guyana where all of the incumbent parties lost office in dramatic fashion. With TCI and St Lucia, only one seat was held for the former government in each of those elections.
Observers have said that COVID-19 policy is a key determining issue on voters’ minds as the pandemic lingers on. Some feel that if a government had called the election early in their term and early during the pandemic, they would stand a better chance at being reelected. But the longer It drags out the more likely the voters are going to have a negative reaction to how the pandemic is being handled by the sitting government.
This snap election could be indicative of the incumbent Prime Minister Mia Mottley not willing to take the chance of going the full term having had the bulk of her term eaten up having to deal with a global pandemic, all with no clear idea when the COVID-19 pandemic will finally come to an end as new strains of the virus keep popping up.
Ms Mottley and her Barbados Labour Party (BLP) won a convincing landslide in the 2018 Barbados General Election having won all of the seats, sweeping the then DLP government out of power. However, there has been some dissatisfaction in the air as critics have called upon her to deliver on more of what was in her party’s platform. In addition, many are now ruing the fact that they allowed one party to have an overwhelming majority of seats in the parliament without having a firm check and balance to the power.
Ms Mottley had her successes however, as she firmly moved the country towards becoming fully independent and removing Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state, bringing the country to republic status, joining Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Ms Mottley’s economic record has been less secure though as she has done little more than ask the International Monetary Fund for support of her agenda, which some suggest lacks a cohesive strategy towards an end goal. The handling of the pandemic has not been as draconian as in other jurisdictions, but slightly unbearable for some. Will it be unbearable for too many is the question leading up to January 19.
This upcoming Barbados general election is going to be very interesting as Ms DePeiza will be leading the DLP, making it the first time two female leaders of a Caribbean country go head-to-head in an election.
Ms DePeiza also said that many of the former DLP candidates and parliamentarians will not be back, as she is only opting to bring four of the former Freundel Stuart administration back to stand for this January 19 election.